1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to diagnostic interpretation and reporting for a non-invasive medical diagnostic test. Specifically, the present invention relates to automated medical diagnostic interpretation and report generation for a non-invasive medical diagnostic test.
2. Description of the Related Art
The interpretation and reporting of non-invasive medical diagnostic tests, such as an echo cardiogram test, is a labor intensive process as currently practiced in the field of medical diagnostics. A typical procedure for an echo cardiogram may be as follows. A patient is scheduled for an echo cardiogram. The technician fills out the patient demographics on a form. The technician then administers the test and records the procedure and reading. The study is now placed in the physician's inbox to be interpreted. The physician (normally at the end of a busy day) initiates the study. The physician records the findings on the form and fills out the interpretation. In some cases the abnormalities may be duplicated in an abbreviated conclusion section of the study. Once the form is filled out, it is then placed in the inbox of the transcriber. The transcriber (typically the following day) will type up the report and place it in the inbox of the physician. Once again, the physician will get the study from the inbox and reviews it for correctness. Once the study is approved, it is then filed and/or sent to the referring physician. As can be seen from the above descriptions, the process is labor-intensive and slow, requiring processing by several personnel and the physician and taking several days. The process is also susceptible to errors due to the manual entry and processing at several points in the process.